


Strange Things Did Happen Here

by generalofthefangirlarmy



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Choking, Hanging, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Really Character Death, Poor Virgil, Self-Hatred, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Virgil Feels, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-23 13:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11990754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/generalofthefangirlarmy/pseuds/generalofthefangirlarmy
Summary: Takes place before Accepting Anxiety or can be seen as an AU.Virgil tries to kill himself by hanging but is unaware of the one rule that actually governs what the sides can do: The sides cannot die. This, of course, causes Virgil to suffer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: Suicide, Suicide Attempt, and Self-Hatred.
> 
> BTW this takes places either before Accepting Anxiety or as an AU.  
> Title comes from the song The Hanging Tree from the Hunger Games.

_I can’t take it, I can’t take it, I CAN’T TAKE IT._

Memories of the other sides raced through his head: the disgusted glances, the annoyed glares, their angry faces. Logan either screeching at him _(FALSEHOOD!)_ or calmly picking apart his every sentence, explaining exactly how he was wrong. Roman’s constant insults, wearing him down day after day. Patton’s disapproving features and disappointed sigh whenever he made Thomas anxious over something that didn’t really matter. His own nightmares that kept him awake at night that consisted of the others yelling at him, telling him how absolutely _worthless_ he was and how much _better_ Thomas would be if he would just _die already._

Virgil’s breath hitched and his fingers shook as his hands fumbled trying to tie the last knot. He was right on the verge of a panic attack, his own spiraling thoughts threatening to push him over the edge. He desperately tried to calm himself down; he couldn’t panic _now_ of all times, after all, it was almost over.

_Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, and breathe out for eight seconds._

 Virgil went through his breathing techniques as he tightened the rope and stepped back to take in his room. He had pushed all the furniture to the sides of the room in order to keep the middle clear for the noose that he had spent the last three hours setting up. His laptop was still open to the tab showing information about how to tie the noose and construct the rigging. Virgil had to manipulate his room in order to make the ceilings higher so when he fell, he wouldn’t hit the ground.

All that was left in the center of the room was a chair that resembled Thomas’s dining room chairs. Virgil would have to stand on the back of it and kick it out from underneath him.

Virgil took another shuddering breath and looked at the white note that he had placed in his traditional spot on the stairs next to his headphones. The handwriting in it was sloppy and there were a couple teardrops but it got his point across. He was useless, pointless, worthless. All he did was bring Thomas down. He made him overly anxious about tiny things that never mattered in the big picture. He shot down all of Princey’s ideas, made Patton sad, and caused Logic to be ignored. All he did was harm those few people that he loved. If that was his purpose in life… then he didn’t want to live this life anymore.

He had wondered if there would be negative effects of his suicide on Thomas. In fact, he panicked for hours over the thought while trying to come up with the answer. Virgil thought he knew what would happen. His hypothesis was that Thomas would be completely free of anxiety for a while, but not permanently. Virgil knew that no anxiety at all would cause harm to Thomas and his reputation, but it needed to be less than what he caused in order to be healthy. His reasoning was that after his death, a new Anxiety would form. The different sides formed at different times, surely new ones could form. After all, just because Thomas didn’t have a side for that particular trait didn’t mean he didn’t have it.

Virgil was counting on the others to control and regulate the new Anxiety so he wouldn’t have the same malevolent power over Thomas that Virgil had. He felt sorry for his future replacement and the existence he would live, but his misery made him selfish. Besides, if the new Anxiety didn’t make Thomas so anxious and unhappy, maybe he could be happy. Maybe the other sides would accept him.

It was time to stop stalling. He knew this, but he still had some doubts. If the sides did care about him at all…. No, that was a foolish thought. Virgil sighed, the noose was ready, and he was ready to die.

He climbed up onto the chair and reached up to grab the noose. Virgil used it to help balance him when he stepped up onto the back of the chair. He wobbled a bit, but was able to get his head through the noose. Tears ran down his face but it didn’t smear his makeup. It was one of the benefits of living in someone’s mind and not having to conform to the rules that ran reality. One of the benefits that he would no longer have.

Virgil looked around his room, trying to decide what the last thing he was going to see was. His eyes settled on his Nightmare Before Christmas posters that were set up in the corner that mirrored Roman’s spot in Thomas’s living room.

He had regrets, of course. Everybody had regrets. He regretted that he could never fit in with the other sides. He regretted that he could never help Thomas. He regretted that he could never enjoy his life. He regretted being too cowardly to tell the others his name in any way other than a suicide note. He regretted that he never showed the other sides how much he loved them.

 _Stop stalling you worthless coward._ Virgil flinched at the thought but agreed. He took one last shaky breath, and in one movement kicked out the chair from underneath him. Virgil fell and the last thing he felt was his neck snapping before the darkness came.

 

* * *

 

Virgil felt a painful tingling in his neck and reached up to rub it but he felt rope. His eyes shot open as he remembered. He had killed himself. He had _hanged_ himself. But he was alive. His neck was in one piece.

And he was choking.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda an explanatory chapter so its really short but that's why I'm posting two chapters at once today. Warning for mentions of death and choking.

Being a facet of somebody’s personality was odd; after all, they lived in that person’s mind where the only limits they had was that person’s imagination. The rules of physics and reality did not apply unless they wanted them to. The sides could manipulate their rooms and surroundings just by concentrating and focusing extremely hard on whatever they wanted to change.

Because of this, Virgil almost never had control of his room due to his anxious thoughts ruining his focus. It was surprising that he had managed to heighten his ceiling, but his determination had won.

Each of the sides were connected with their hosts. What they did affected the host and vice versa. A side could hypothetically “disconnect” from their host but that would leave the host without that trait. Each side knew that they were important to the function of their person so this option was rarely used. However, there is one rule that governs the sides.

The sides cannot die. Not unless the host does. That is why the situation where somebody has a trait one day, but doesn’t have it the next day for no apparent reason, does not happen. Events in the person’s life can cause them to change or fade, depending on how the host’s personality changes. However, while that facet may fade and no longer be a prominent side, they will still exist within that person.

Therefore, when a side is close to dying, the host’s imagination heals them just enough for them to live. It will not remove them from the situation in which they died, even if it is dangerous and may cause them to die again. It only heals; it is up to the sides to get to safety.

Imagination healed Virgil’s broken neck, but he was still hanging from the noose. He would choke until he died again, and the cycle would continue. Forever… unless another side intervened.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if his thoughts in the situation seem unrealistic. I have never been choked by a noose before or have been continuously resurrected while hanging from said noose. Anyway, he's fictional and nonhuman so I can do what I want. Trigger warning for choking, dying, and suicide.

Virgil’s hands clawed at the noose around his neck, desperately trying to loosen the rope so he could breathe. His feet were swinging and kicking above the ground, attempting to reach _anything_ that would allow him to stand and release the pressure from around his neck. As he failed in his attempts, he started to panic, causing him to hyperventilate and making his breathing problem _worse._

_I can’t even succeed at dying,_ Virgil thought as his vision went black again after several minutes of swinging and choking.

 

* * *

 

Virgil tried to gasp as his eyes shot open again, but while his swelled up brain and windpipe had healed, his throat was now being crushed again by the rope from which he hung.

He felt the edges of panic coming on but he didn’t know how to stop them. Virgil tried to reach above his head to grab the rope and try to pull himself up but the position the rope was in was too awkward and his arms would have been too weak to hold himself up for long.

His choking gasps became shorter as his panic grew. Virgil desperately kicked out with his feet, cursing his idea to move all of his furniture out of the middle of the room. _Stupid, stupid, STUPID!_ His wild feet hit the chair that he had kicked out from underneath him but he only managed in kicking it farther away. Tears leaked from Virgil’s eyes as he succumbed to the panic and later the blackness that overtook him.

 

* * *

 

Virgil went through the vicious cycle of healing, choking, and dying several times before he was able to not have a panic attack every time he woke up. He still panicked, of course, but it was a little more controllable. Unfortunately, this just meant it took longer for him to choke to death. However, it did mean he could think about his situation.

What did Virgil want? _He wanted to die._ Well he was already doing that, more times than he could count. _He wanted to stay dead._ He knew that wasn’t going to happen based on whatever force of Thomas’s mind kept healing him over and over. Virgil didn’t think it was going to stop if he said, well _thought,_ please. _He wanted to stop choking._ Finally, a manageable goal.

It took him several cycles to think of a way to stop choking but he finally realized the only way he was going to get out of this hell was if one of the other sides found him. Fat chance at that. None of the other sides have even _been_ in his room. They only came to knock on his door every couple of days because Morality forced them to invite him to some stupid group bonding activity. Virgil normally answered the door to refuse, but when he was having an especially bad day he would just tell them to buzz off without bothering to open the door.

Besides, he had hanged himself right after a video with Thomas. The sides didn’t usually bother him for three to four days after that. They probably didn’t want to interact with him for a while after being forced to talk to him for ten minutes. Virgil couldn’t blame them. And anyway, if one of the sides _did_ come, they would probably take his silence as a refusal and just walk away. Or if they did decide to come in, the door was locked. None of them would want to talk to him so desperately that they would break down his door. His panic over continuously _choking and dying_ and the lack of concentration that came with it made it impossible to mentally force his door unlocked. He really should have thought of that before he tried to kill himself.

_How long has it been anyway?_ His panic made it hard to tell how long it took for him to choke to death but he remembered reading on his laptop that it took anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes for the victim to die of strangulation. _Great. Absolutely freaking fantastic._

Virgil tried to estimate how many times he had gone through this gruesome cycle, but the panic made it difficult. He thought…. Maybe twenty times before he was able to think through his situation? And fifteen since then? So that was about… seven and a half hours of him choking. Virgil was glad Thomas was pretty good at math or else he would have kept losing his calculations due to him _dying._

Virgil despaired at that depressingly short amount of time before he caught his error several cycles later. _Logan would have thought of that sooner._ Virgil shoved that thought out of his mind as he pursued the more pressing issue. _How long did it take for him to wake up again?_ Virgil tried to swing around to look at his clock before remembering that the hands moved at unrealistically fast speeds in order to mimic what time felt for him when he was on a deadline or was under pressure. Virgil felt in his pockets for his phone and pulled it out only to find it dead. It soon dropped from his dead fingers and cracked when hitting the floor.

Virgil fought off the automatic panic that always came with waking up as he remembered he couldn’t breathe. _God, I hate dying. But back to the problem at hand._ All that was left was reason. Virgil didn’t think it took too long for his body to heal, it probably took him several minutes. That would be…. About the same length of time he had been choking for. Meaning he had been dying and being resurrected for about fifteen hours now. And he had hanged himself eight hours after the end of the video so that meant…. Twenty-three hours. Almost a full day.

If Virgil could have groaned, he would have. Two more days of this hell before someone came to knock on his door, and who knows how long after that for any of them to decide to break into his room. If they ever did.

_I hate my life._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The other sides have a meeting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only my second time writing dialogue and my first time writing dialogue with more than 2 people so go easy on me guys :) My sanders sides tumblr is @satisfied-sanders-sides.

“So what are we going to do about this?” Logan asked.

It had been five days since the video and the sides were getting worried. None of them had seen or heard Anxiety, even when they knocked on his door.

The first side who tried to talk to Anxiety was Patton. He wanted to invite his dark, strange son to eat lunch with them but received no response. Patton was saddened by his supposed refusal to come out, but respected his privacy and told him that he was welcome to join them at any time.

The next was Logan. He had wanted to possibly have another debate with Anxiety, this time about whether instincts and feelings were a reliable source of information or not. He, too, took Anxiety’s silence as a refusal and gave up.

Roman also came to Anxiety’s room but not to invite him to do something. Roman had witnessed Patton’s obvious sadness and Logan’s subtle disappointment over Anxiety ignoring their requests. He had also missed the dark side somewhat—their banter _was_ amusing—but he originally decided to wait for the emo nightmare to come out of his den when he wanted to so he could enjoy creating wondrous ideas without Anxiety’s negativity shutting them all down.

However, Anxiety had crossed the line. He was _NOT_ allowed to make the others so melancholy! Roman intended to figure out what was up with him and why he kept ignoring everyone. Fortunately, before he barged into Anxiety’s room with a glower, Patton and Logan had caught him. This led to the meeting that was currently taking place in the common room of Thomas’s mind.

“I suggest we go with my original idea of entering Anxiety’s room and confronting him,” Roman began, gesturing grandly at himself. “After all, I don’t think you two will have any better ideas.”

Patton bit his lower lip. “I dunno kiddo, I don’t really want to barge into his room like that. It just seems…. wrong.”

“Well he’s not coming out his of room voluntarily and he’s not answering our summons.” Roman proved his point by dramatically raising his arm in an attempt to summon Anxiety. Just like all the other times they have tried, nothing happened.

Logan sighed and adjusted his glasses. “While I hate to say this, Roman is… correct.” His mouth briefly twisted as if tasting something sour. “Anxiety has not been out of his room even to eat. And while we do not need food to survive, seeing as we are facets of a personality, it is an activity he usually partakes in.”

Patton shifted uncomfortably in his spot and looked down. “Yeah, I know. I don’t want to invade his privacy, but I’m really worried about him; he’s not even answering us through the door.” He looked up and the others could see tears forming in his eyes. “Do you… do you think he’s okay?”

“We cannot possibly know that unless we see Anxiety for ourselves.” Logan cleared his throat while fixing his tie. “I therefore second Roman’s plan to enter Anxiety’s room.”

Patton sighed and nodded. His worry showed through the way his hands fiddled with the sleeves of his cardigan.

“Oh quit worrying, padre. You’re more anxious than the emo nightmare himself.” With that, Roman led the way down the hallway to Anxiety’s room while the other sides trailed behind. At first he knocked, but upon receiving no response, he tried the door handle. It wouldn’t budge. Roman frowned, “It’s locked.”

“Not surprising, giving his love for privacy.” Logan pulled out a set of lock picks from seemingly nowhere. “Fortunately, I know how to pick locks.”

Patton eyebrows drew together worriedly at this admission of knowing a morally bad skill but he stayed silent as Logan went to work on Anxiety’s lock. His worry over the dark trait overcame his disapproval at lock picking.

As soon as the door unlocked, Roman grabbed the handle and pulled the door back, nearly hitting Logan in the face. He stepped into the room only to freeze at the sight of Anxiety’s limp body hanging from a noose. Roman opened his mouth and let out a horrifyingly high-pitched shriek.

Logan and Patton startled at the sound that came from Roman’s lips and tried to look into the room but Roman was blocking the door. “Roman, what is it?” Patton asked urgently, terrified for his anxious child.

Roman stayed frozen staring at Anxiety’s body, unable to rip his eyes away from the gruesome sight. Then Anxiety body twitched and his head suddenly shot up and gasped for breath, only to start choking. Anxiety’s hands automatically came up to claw at the rope.

Roman screeched again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It gets angstier.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this! I'm planning to upload it Monday but due to Hurricane Irma I may or may not have internet so it might be later. I have a generator so I should be able to upload, but it's not definite. Thank you all so much for your support!

Virgil woke up and his hands automatically went to his throat, as usual, before they flopped back uselessly to his sides as he ran out of energy. He had lost track of how long he had been here. He thought he remembered someone talking through the door at one point but he couldn’t recall who it was. He hadn’t had any food or water for several days and was extremely weak and dizzy. All of a sudden, the horrible pressure around his neck was relieved, somewhat. He opened his eyes and looked down, only to do a double-take when he saw Princey holding his body up so the pressure on his neck was relieved. Virgil immediately started coughing, an ugly dry, wheezing sound. Fortunately, they caught him right after he was resurrected so his throat wasn’t crushed.

Through his coughing, he could hear sobbing. It wasn’t Princey, who he was still staring at. While he could see tears running down Roman’s cheeks… _wait, what? Why is Princey crying?_ Virgil’s spinning mind abandoned that thought as soon as it arose when he looked up and saw Patton. The sobbing facet had righted the chair he had kicked over and was standing on it trying to get the noose off Virgil’s neck.

When it was off, he sagged against Roman, still gasping for breath. He felt himself being shifted in Roman’s grip until he was being carried bridal style. His eyes drifted shut and he curled up against Roman, trying to lessen his coughs but to no avail. Virgil felt something soft beneath him and felt Roman’s hands pulling away. Virgil whined but was only awarded with more coughing.

There was something hard and cool pressed gently against Virgil’s mouth. He opened his eyes to see Logan standing over him holding a glass of water. Virgil tried to lift his hands to grab the water but they were shaking. Logan softly pushed them down and helped lift Virgil’s head with one hand while holding the glass in the other. The glass was slowly tipped so a bit of the water trickled into Virgil’s mouth. Virgil wanted more but didn’t have the energy so he allowed the water to seep into his mouth while painfully swallowing every once in a while.

When he glass was empty, Logan laid Virgil’s head back on the couch cushions and stepped back. Virgil finally stopped coughing and was feeling a bit drowsy. His eyes slipped shut, and he was able to get his first sleep that wasn’t death in five days.

 

* * *

 

 Logan stepped back from Anxiety and watched as Roman leaned forward to brush the hair out of the dark trait’s eyes and kiss his forehead as Anxiety drifted off. The logical side grabbed a nearby blanket off a chair and covered Anxiety with it. As he tucked Anxiety in, he got a glance of the enormous purple bruise ringing his neck and quickly looked away. He straightened up and looked towards the hallway as he heard footsteps.

He saw Patton walk into the living room and his heart panged. The normally happy facet was a mess. His eyes were red and his cheeks were wet from tears. Logan looked more closely and saw that Patton was still crying. Logan reached up to his own cheek and realized he was as well. _Good, Anxiety deserves these tears._

Then Logan realized what Patton was holding in his hand. The blood ran out of his face as he realized Patton was holding Anxiety’s suicide note. He heard Roman swallow thickly beside him.

“Is that… Is that…” Roman gestured helplessly at the note, unable to finish his sentence.

Patton nodded and several more tears slipped down his cheeks. He slowly walked to the center of the living room and sat down at the floor, silently looking up at the other two sides. Logan and Roman shared a glance and walked forward to sit down on either side of Patton. He slowly unfolded the suicide note and each of the sides began to read silently.

 

_Roman, Patton, Logan, and Thomas:_

_I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I have done nothing but hurt you guys and I’m so sorry for that. I wish I could have lightened up and not been such a nuisance. I wish I didn’t make you guys so disappointed or angry whenever I was me. I wish I could have allowed you, Thomas, to have an enjoyable social life. I am so, so sorry._

_You guys were right to hate me, I was a jerk. I was rude and sarcastic to all of you so I don’t blame you for not wanting me around._

_Roman, I’m sorry I was so mean to you. I didn’t want to be, but that doesn’t really matter because I_ was _mean. I’m sorry that I shut down all of your ideas and called them stupid. I was just too much of a coward to try anything new. I also don’t think you are a jerk. You can be nice and considerate sometimes, even if not to me. I regret that I could never have been your friend. I would have enjoyed watching Disney movies with you. There’s a lot I haven’t told you… but it’s too late now._

_Patton, you are the kindest person I have ever met. Even when dealing with me, you kept smiling and cracking jokes. Your puns would always make me laugh, even if I didn’t show it on the outside. I have always appreciated your efforts to try and include me, even if you didn’t want to. Please don’t be sad over my death, I’m not worth it._

_Logan, I think that, under different circumstances, we could’ve been friends. You’re more grounded in reality and it was always nice to talk to you. The lessons you taught me in the debate we had were helpful, so thank you. I’m sorry that they didn’t get rid of my mental filtering completely, but they helped some. I would have like to have more debates with you and talk about science. I think we shared an interest in astronomy._

_Thomas, it is to you that I have done the most harm. I’ve cost you so many opportunities in your life that could never come again. I’m the reason you are always overly anxious and don’t try new things. I’m the one who keeps you awake at night and causes you to lose sleep. I’m the one who makes you think negatively about yourself when you should be confident in all you do. For all of that, I am so, so sorry._

_I do not want to live in a world where I only hurt the people I love. So I decided to leave. I don’t really know what will happen when I die, but I think a new Anxiety will form. You guys can regulate the new one so he only makes Thomas slightly anxious only when absolutely necessary and you can all be happy. So… Goodbye._

_Love,_

_Virgil Anxiety Sanders_

 

The three sides were openly sobbing and hugging each other by the time they reached the end of the letter. They now had the youngest trait’s name, but they never wanted to find out like this.

After an hour, Logan had finally calmed down enough that he wasn’t sobbing, but he was still crying. He detached himself from the others, took the crumpled note out of Patton’s hands, and stood up.

“Wh-where are you going?” Patton stammered, making grabby hands towards Logan, wanting the other to come back to the group cuddle.

“Somebody has to explain to Thomas what’s going on,” Logan made a small gesture towards the note. “He’s probably feeling sad and therefore confused because he does not know that he has a reason to be sad.”

Roman looked up at Logan. “Do you want us to come with you?” Roman bit his lip and glanced over at Virgil’s sleeping form before looking back at Logan.

The logical trait could tell that Roman wanted to stay with the youngest. “No, its fine. You can stay and watch over Virgil.” Logan knew he made the right decision when he saw Roman’s grateful look. He sunk down and appeared in Thomas’s bedroom, since that was where his host was located at the moment.

Thomas was laying on his bed wrapped up with blankets and with tears running down his cheeks. He sniffled, but when he saw Logan, he immediately sat up.

“Logan, what’s happening?” Thomas wiped his eyes. “Why do I feel so sad? These last few days have been pre – _woah”_ Thomas had finally looked up at Logan’s face and saw the tears running down his usually emotionless trait’s cheeks. “What _happened?”_

Logan sat down next to Thomas on the bed and looked down at where his hands were resting in his lap. He looked at the note, drew in a breath, and started to explain to Thomas. By the time he was done and Thomas had read the note, they were both sobbing and clinging onto each other, wondering how they could have let the youngest trait feel so worthless.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My attempt at writing fluff, romance, and a happy ending......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I temporarily have Internet so here's the last part! Please excuse my crappy romance, I'm aromantic and the only thing I know about romance is what I've read in fanfiction so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. Thank you all so much for reading this story!!!!!!!

When Virgil woke up, he was feeling decidedly less dizzy. As he went to rub his eyes, he felt something in his right hand. He looked down and saw that it was Roman’s hand. The Prince had apparently sat down by the couch and held onto Virgil’s hand while he slept. However, his head was now resting on the couch next to Virgil and soft snores were coming from him. Virgil smiled softly at the sight before remembering why he was on the couch. The flinch that accompanied the memory caused Roman to wake up.

“Wha-what? Oh! Virgil, you’re awake!” Roman stared at him, looking relieved, but then his eyes started to fill up with tears. “Virgil, I am _so-_ ”

Virgil, while shocked at the use of his real name, cut him off before he got any farther. “Why are you crying?”

Roman jerked back as if slapped but then slumped and sighed wearily. “I thought you were _dead,_ Virgil. You tried to… to…” Roman swallowed thickly and whispered, “You tried to _kill yourself._ And… it was partially my fault. I have acted in an entirely un-princely manner and have been so rude to you in the past. I-I made you feel hated and unwelcome, and that is a crime that I will never forgive myself for.” At this, Roman looked down and squeezed Virgil’s hand, which Virgil had forgot he was holding until now.

“But, you hated me before. Why do you suddenly care now?” Virgil’s previously confused face hardened. “If this is pity, then I don’t want it.”

“No! It’s not pity, but rather… sympathy.” Roman sighed and looked at Virgil, making sure he had his attention. “While you were sleeping, I rethought everything I thought I knew about you, and discovered that I knew nothing at all. Before, I didn’t even know that you had anxiety, I just thought you caused it for Thomas. You hid it very well, but that is no excuse for my behavior. I never should have been such a jerk to you, Virgil. I only saw the negative in you, while ignoring the positive.

“I have always thought that you were too hard on Thomas, but that isn’t true at all. There are people out there in the world that have much worse anxiety than Thomas does and that makes us extremely lucky. You provide just enough caution to keep Thomas vigilant.” Roman gave a breathy little chuckle at his pun and looked at Virgil with a small, sad smile. “You are Thomas’s _motivation,_ Virgil. Logan, Patton, and I can provide ideas on what to do and how to accomplish it, but none of us can make Thomas get up and do it. You are the reason that Thomas will rehearse constantly for a show. You are the reason he keeps making videos. You are the one that makes Thomas want to _live._ ”

Virgil blinked back tears at this declaration and returned Roman’s smile. “Th-thank you, Roman. You… have no idea how much that means to me.”

Roman blushed and looked down. “All this introspection has caused me to realize something else, something incredibly important,” He looked up and raised his free hand to Virgil’s face. When Virgil nodded slightly, Roman cupped Virgil’s cheek with his hand. “I-I love you, Virgil.”

Virgil's eyes widened in shock. _My feelings are.... reciprocated?_ Virgil then realized that he hadn't responded and Princey's smile was slowly fading. Just as Roman was about to pull his hand away, Virgil smiled and leaned his head against Roman’s palm. “I love you too, Princey.”

The moment was somewhat ruined when Virgil’s stomach grumbled. He grinned sheepishly and looked at Roman, who mirrored him. Not a moment later, Patton and Logan came through the kitchen door carrying plates of food. It was obvious that they had been waiting for their moment to finish, based off Patton’s wide grin and Logan’s smile. Roman helped Virgil sit up so he could eat, in doing so, he had to let go of Virgil’s hand but as soon as Virgil was upright, Roman wrapped an arm around his waist. Virgil leaned against Roman, sighing contentedly.

Patton’s smile faded as he grew serious for a moment. “Now, kiddo, we didn’t mean to eavesdrop but everything that Roman said was true. We all love and appreciate you, Virgil; you’re like a son to me. You are a wonderful person who does everything he can to help Thomas, and we all are grateful. Thomas is sleeping right now, but I’m sure that when he wakes up, he’ll want to tell you so himself.”

Logan nodded and readjusted his glasses. “Patton is correct. I have never hated you Virgil; in fact, I have always found your realistic, if somewhat negative, views to be relaxing. I too would enjoy having more debates with you and discussing astronomy. If you would like, we could go stargazing as well.”

Virgil once again blinked back tears. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to speak past the lump in his throat. “Th-thanks. I love you guys, too.”

Roman smiled at him and leaned forward to get him a sandwich. Virgil returned the smile as he accepted the sandwich and began to eat.

They were going to be okay.


End file.
